bring back some memories

April 30, 2014

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29, 1917, the great-grandson of Irish immigrants. His father, the son of a saloon keeper, had graduated from Harvard and at age 25 became the youngest bank president in the U.S. He was a highly skilled investor and money handler and made a fortune. In 1914, Joe Kennedy had married Rose Fitzgerald, the daughter of John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, a colorful Boston politician. Young Jack Kennedy was the second child in a family that would eventually have nine children. Joe Jr., Jack, Rosemary, Kathleen, Eunice, Patricia, Robert, Jean, and Edward (Teddy).

Pals - and rivals - Joseph Patrick (left) and John Fitzgerald. Fiercely loyal and fiercely competitive, they sometimes even brawled as boys. Joe was a natural athlete and had many talents, but was also a bit more serious. Young Jack Kennedy was a sickly child but fun loving and well liked. Despite his illnesses, Jack liked to compete in sports, the competitive spirit largely encouraged by his father.

With the girls - Rosemary, Kathleen and Eunice in 1925.

Playing policeman. At about age five, Jack decided he would become a cop.

In the water at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, the family's summer home.

On the team - the Dexter boys school football team in Brookline, Massachusetts, featuring Jack Kennedy at about age ten (seated on ground, front right) and older brother Joe (row behind, third from left).

A bright-eyed, handsome boy - JFK at age eleven.

Growing up - and all dressed up, at the family's vacation home in Palm Beach, Florida.

At Choate, an exclusive prep school in Connecticut. The Muckers, a group that delighted in practical jokes and bucking the school's traditions, featuring JFK on the right, 1934. Their antics nearly got Jack expelled.

Choate graduate, class of 1935, surprisingly voted "Most Likely to Succeed." As a final joke on the school, Jack rigged the election.